Career point: Opportunities ahead

I'm pursuing MBA first year, and interested in HR specialisation. What courses do you suggest me to join, also let me know the opportunities ahead after I complete MBA. - Sreeja, Chennai

Good to hear that you're very much concerned about your career from your first year. In order to enter into HR field, many get entry through recruitment activity as there are many opportunities in consultancies. If it's startups you'll get scope in other functions like training, payroll, performance appraisal, etc. SAP, Oracle HRMS courses are popular in ERP, however they are best suited if you already have about 2-3 years of work experience.

You can attend HR related events/work shops/seminars and meet and learn from many HR professionals – for few such events visit

http://www.nationalhrd.org/chapter/hyderabad,

https://www.facebook.com/pages/India-HR-LIVE/125253134348579, meraevents.com,

http://www.meetup.com/passionandlife/events/221831872. Similarly you can also get updates from Quora, LinkedIn, Facebook and other social media sites. Visit http://on.fb.me/ 1EtvQtI for HR related articles and career opportunities.

I've completed intermediate and I am now pursuing diploma in Film Writing. Could you please suggest any relevant courses for me? - Pranav, Madhapur

Do visit http://bit.ly/1EeXqN0 to understand the evolution and great works done by many experts in this field. Aspirants of this field need to observe the surroundings, environment, community and fellow beings to write a script. The way your script your story, your thinking, and the way you present are the most crucial elements. You need to observe several advertisements, movies and other short films and prepare notes for yourself for further review and learning.

Read Three-Act Structure by Syd Field by accessing this website http://bit.ly/1FVR31s to understand the method of film making, from writing to screenplay. Ramanaidu Film School, Hyderabad; Annapurna International School of Film & Media, Hyderabad; Glitters Film Academy, Hyderabad; Film & Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune; Satyajit Ray Institute of Film & Television (SRIFT), Kolkata; Xavier Institution of Communication, University of Mumbai; Mindscreen Film Institute, Chennai; Digital Academy - The Film School, Mumbai are a few renowned institutions to learn the art of film-making. You can also attend Kamlesh Pandey, Ben Rekhi's ‘The Scriptwalla workshop (http://bit.ly/1ymfEVk).

I’m pursuing B.tech - CSE. Due to financial problems I joined engineering a year after completing intermediate. I would like to know how this gap will affect my career. -Rajaram

It's purely depending on how you justify yourself that you're the right fit for the said job. Most of the Multi National Companies (MNC) and corporate organisations prefer to take those who do not have any backlogs. However, in case of startups it's different - rather they prefer and focus more on skilled people than going for degrees. Their primary approach is how a particular candidate can prove useful and justify the job he/she is assigned. So you better approach start-up companies. If you have any backlogs, ensure you clear them without any delay.

You can choose anything from mobile applications, banking, marketing or database management and intern in that. With this exposure, you can work in startups for about 2 to 3 years. Then you can go for any MNC since you'll have hands on experience, so that time gaps can be bridged in a productive way.

Sir, I did B.tech- Electrical Engineering and joined as a personal assistant. Later, I realised it's not my interest. So, please suggest me how to set up a perfect career plan. - Kiranmayi, UP

Lot of young aspirants think that once they get hired for their first job, then everything is easy and can settle in their life. I feel getting a job after you complete your education might not be difficult, if you’re clear about your career plans. However, managing your career, growing in it is a challenging thing. Lot of youngsters opt for any job because of pressure, disappointment with their routine job search and finally come back to the cross roads to look for alternatives.

Having mere degrees/certificates will not get you a job. You need to be aware of your strengths and where your interest lies. So, it's always better to set your career road map before you take up any job. Here are few simple steps you can follow:

Identify your short and long term goals: You can't start mapping your path if you do not know the destination. So, first identify where you would like to see yourself in the next 2 to 3 years.

Then ask yourself why these goals are important and how will they benefit your career growth once they are met. However, be flexible to change your career plans as required and open to learning new skills.

Find out your strengths and areas to improve: Check if you have a passion to become something great, but it should help you earn, sustain and grow. Do not compromise on the skills required to cope up with a selected area and market dynamics. Make a list of the skills you possess and the areas you need to improve, also list out the hurdles and ways to overcome them. Make a habit to learn new things and also a self-motive to continue this journey of learning throughout your life.

Be a life-long learner. You may like to find a guide/mentor with whom you're comfortable.

Action plan: It's a very critical aspect of your entire career road map setting. If you feel your goals are big then bring them down to smaller tasks and set timelines for each task. You can't have vague plans; it should be SMART - specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bounded.

Identify your target industry, domain and companies: Once you're clear about your area of interest and strengths, the next step is to find out where you can start your journey.

Leave your comfort zone; build your network and always try to be on the right track.

Periodically cross check your progress… what you have planned, what you achieved and then take a corrective action plan.

If the interviewer asks me ‘what other job vacancies have I applied for?’ in an interview then I feel uncomfortable to answer such questions. Please suggest me to handle such questions during interview? - Reju, Hyderabad

Interviewers pose such questions to find out how much you're interested in their company. There's nothing wrong about a job seeker exploring opportunities with other companies. If you try to be honest and reveal everything, you might lose an opportunity with the company you currently applied for. If you have not applied for other jobs, then be honest and say it is the start of your job search and you wanted to start your career with their organisation.

Otherwise in a polite way, you could say "Sorry, I do not disclose that information." However, the best solution is you can simply tell them that you're also exploring opportunities with other companies but felt this would be your first preference.

Sir, I'm interested in E-commerce technical field. Please suggest suitable courses or areas to improve upon. - Meghna, Bangalore

Technical skills such as web design, website maintenance and security, and also for those with skills relating to digital marketing, web analytics and copywriting, are for individuals who possess a blend of both technical and business understanding. You should learn HTML5/CSS3, PHP5/MYSQL5, XML, XSLT, JavaScript, AJAX, MVC Framework, LAMP, Adobe Dreamweaver CS3; e-commerce Platform: OpenCart, Magento which will be useful in the field you want to pursue.

Soft skills like PR skills, marketing skills, communication skills, business analysis skills, problem solving skills, customer service skills and user-empathy skills will help you make progress in your job. However, you need to be thorough in all the above skills. You can visit this website to understand the basics and know many aspects of E-commerce: https://www. coursera.org/course/ntuecom.

By:By:kamal pabba